Jeff

yeah, Dayton actually was experiencing infill construction in late 1940s into the 1950s on old pre-depression plats.

Im not sure where to post this, but it is maybe more a city discussion than anything.... I'm not sure if anyone here is familiar with or heard of a local Dayton "character" David Sparks. He was sort of an internet presence for a few years, on the old Active Dayton forums, and having his own website "Fat City News" Then he resurfaced as "Drexel Dave", frontman for a band, "Drexel" (after the infamous suburban redneck slum out West Third Street)..not sure what happened to Drexel, but it looks like they might have an album out (or is it just a prank...I think Drexel actually did do gigs) Now I came across a photoblog site from Drexel Dave Photos from the Streets of Dayton ....which is interesting as he is taking pix of a lot of the same areas I'm taking pix of, except he does more people, more true "street photography', whith black humor captions, while I do buildings (with pedantic historical captions)...but he does buildings too. His opening statement: Probably like many people in many areas of the USA, I get sick and tired of being sick and tired about the Disney-esque way that my local world is presented by our local corporate media wizards, or the hordes of bad PR agents working to sell the fantasy viewpoint that EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE AND DANDY in our Grand City of Dayton, Ohio. The pictures tell another story. Here they are. Some of them are disturbing, while others are just ordinary depiction of life on the streets - our true surroundings. All of them were shot with a digital camera while driving through various neighborhoods and sections of this midwestern city where airplanes and funk music were invented. 22 pages of pix of Dayton, and one page of Cincinnati. ...and he does mean disturbing, as there is one weegee-esque one of a guy who committed suicide by hanging himself from an upper floor window. Generally they are not too creepy, if you are used to Dayton. Sparks seems to have moved on from street photography, though, into a form of folk art of his own invention... The wild and unique bedpan art of Drexel Dave Sparks @@@@@@ Unlike me this guy actually does live in Dayton. His neighbors are restoring a rather signifigant historic house, and have their own blog/website.. Worth checkiing out.... This Old Crack House

The name "Wauseon" almost sounds like it could be up in Wisconsin or Upper Michigan.

That Westinghouse plant is mentioned in the old WPA Ohio Guide, which is interesting given the very modernist architecture of the place, using band windows and no ornamentation. If this is the same plant that could be one of the very first true modern buildings in Ohio, dating from the 1930s.

I'd say, for a newcomer, perusing something like CityBeat or Cincinnati magazine would tip people off to whats interesting in town I really don't know much about the entertainment scene in Cincinnati, but it seems places are more scattered. I know there are places on Main Street, but also Bogarts up in Correyville and the Southgate House across the river in Newport, and the Comet up in the Northside, I think, and so forth...they are all in-town, but scattered around the inner neighborhoods. Thats pretty different from here in Dayton, where all the places worth going to (for me at least, and I'm talking about straight venues) are downtown or in the Oregon. The interesting thing about Dayton is that there is no "campus strip" around UD...at least when it comes to music venues...most people at UD or WSU party in the city, as far as I can tell. One would think there would be like a little version of the things around UC or even High Street at OSU on Brown Street around UD, but it doesn't seem to be quite that developed, aside from food places and a few shops.

Good grief...that would be three for me. Stage Door for gay bar (I actually have two other faves, but have to stick with the SD for the good jukebox, unpretentious clientele, and, in the words of Tevye, "Tradition!") The Century for straight bar Canal Street Tavern for music bar (though I'm liking the Oregon Express too, nowadays) ...& I'm sure I've posted pix of these before.

There are examples of these poor meets as far north as Montgomery County, where east-west surveys have to go at a diagonal between north -south lines, rather than perpendicular. This can be seen on roads, too. OH 725 runs at a diagonal between Washington Church Rd and Mcewen due to this survey offset.

...and to think my first experience of Cincy nightlife (and Cincy itself) was when I was 18, and still living in Kentucky, at a disco near UC that served low-test beer. It was actually legal in Ohio to drink lower alcohol lite beer 18 +.

Well, now it looks like the Dayton Daily News is leaving. That leaves, what, on that block of Ludlow? ...the Embassy, the Doubletree, and Kinkos.

I'm more shocked that they fit 50,000 in OTR in the first place...thats a city the size of, say, Middletown in the space of a few blocks.

No fair! College town!

Yuba City must'tve been hell for you.

I read about the maple syrup industry in that old WPA Ohio Guide and figured it was long gone, but apparently this is still a buisness up there? So is there a local brand of maple syrup from Ohio, bottled and sold in stores?

Rustbelt Paparazzi!

I could use those. They'd be handy to give to people when they ask "why are you taking picutres of my house?!". @@@@@@ The only time this has happened was back when I started this both me and this girl where taking pix of the Stockyards Inn (in East Dayton) at the same time.

That seems to be the run of the various posts at those "skscraper boards". St Louisians get pretty defensive at those sites. Thats what I found so funny about the article, the way it mimics the urban rivalry discussions at those skyscraper boards. But seriously, historically (in the 19th century) the "enemy" for Cincinnati was Louisville. In fact Cincinnati buisnessmen financed the first canal around the falls at Louisville as a form of economic sabotage so as to break Louisvilles 'break-in-bulk' mercantile buisness, so the steamboats wouldnt have to stop there. Later, after the Civil War, Cincy financed that railroad down to Chattanooga to compete with Louisville for trade in the South. So that was the historical economic rivarly for Cincinnati from the 19th century.

OTR is shorthand for Over The Rhine or Over-The-Rhine. its an old working class neighborhood just north of downtown, now mostly a big slum, which is starting to undergo gentrification. OTR is notable for its very dense tenement-style development; possibly the most dense older neighborhood in the Midwest (including Chicago). Over The Rhine is home to Findlay Market, which is an authentic old fashioned street market. I'm pretty sure if you use the search feature on this site you might get a pix thread on the place. Over The Rhine is also a light-rock band from Cincinnati. Google will bring them up too. @@@@@@ 16 years ago Fourth Street used to be sort of a small art gallery district, east of Race street, closer to the freeway. All of those galleries have closed now.

delightfully corrupt! I recall flying back from a buisness trip to the DC area, and my fellow traveller said 'that guy in front is Tony Hall" (Tony Hall used to be the Congressman from Dayton). as we where on one of those awfull teen-tiny shuttle jets, I though "no way", telling my coworker..."No way Jose....Heck, politicians fly on private jets or first class, they don't take little puddle jumpers and fly with the great unwashed like us!" But sure enough, we landed in Dayton, and he got off the plane and the media was wating there on the tarmac to interview him..it really was Tony Hall flying on that puddle jumper. I guess he didnt have enough corporate clout for a private jet.

Do youse guys really water ski on Lake Erie?

I think perhaps one of the more unusual shops in Cleveland is that "Communist" bookstore off of Conventry in Cleveland Heights. I have never actually been there, but they always have a table or booth at the CommFest in Columbus. Specialty bookstores are fairly rare outside major cities, and speciality bookstores specializing in Marxism/Leninism/Anarchism are even more unusual.

Here's another country song with an Ohio ref, by Tom T Hall: The Rolling Mills of Middletown The rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on I knew him well old friend of mine from down kentucky way We had some high good times my friend back in our younger days I knew he shouldn't marry any woman quite that wild Then later on I learned that she had been expectin' a child He got his job at making steel and bought himself a home Where the rolling mills of middletown roll on roll on roll on Well there's money in those steel mills boys and he made quite a bit He worked all night she shopped all day bought everything that fit A helper on the bof three thousand degrees at a round His wife was just about that hot in the bars in old middletown Of course he was the last to know oh but listen to my song While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on [ guitar ] One night the foreman on his turn said cool down no 2 And he told my friend to go on home as soon as he was through He stopped into a little bar to have a good cold beer His woman and some dayturn guy were dancing closely there Oh I knew him well and in his mind there must have been a storm While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on They say he never spoke a word he just turned and walked away And no one knows exactly what took place that fateful day Some say they saw him near the tracks at furnace no 1 With heat so hot the hubs of hell would seem just barely warm Well they never saw my friend again did he do something wrong While the rolling mills of Middletown Ohio roll on roll on roll on

Serioulsy, its a real bummer whats happened to the Embassy, and that Schwind building....a real bummer.

^ Hah! Given the average age of some of the shows I've been at at CST, i wouldn't call the all the audience for this stuff "boys"...you'd probably see older crowds at the jazz venues too. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ So Xarhoulacos has sued the city? All that has to happen now is for the city to write-up the restuarant for the noncompliant doorway, and fine Xarhoulacos if he doesn't fix it. Hardball. Actually, if the DDN vacates their buildings, and the Schwind is vacant, the city can take over both properties and tear them down, creating some "strategically located parking" for the school board buildings south of 4th on Ludlow.

yeah, and the Fargo-esque accent isn't really the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent, either....Fargo-esque is more Minnesota and (sort of) Wisconsin.

The sad thing about this is that a big art gallery (or collection of gallery spaces) just opened, and another "private" gallery for someone called Landsiedel will be opening tomorrow. So, just as this Cannery complex was starting to fill-out at the ground floor, there are these vacancies.